Here's what they're saying about "Sweet Embrace"
"Andrea has wonderful instincts for crafting a great song - and the voice and the authentic spirit to deliver it in a way that is utterly captivating and delightful. I loved her."
Shari Ulrich
"Andrea Smith has a voice that goes down like freshly pulled honey from the hive. Just enough sweetness mixed with a little sting. Her songs provide a great vehicle for her voice and this ride will take you from where you've been , to where you wish you could be. Four bees out of five."
Mae Moore
"Vancouver Island's Smith has a fine expressive voice, can write solid, accessible material and has surrounded herself with great players from Miles Black and Phil Dwyer to producer/guitarist Pat Coleman. Radio will go nuts trying to categorize her but this is good stuff. B"
John P. McLaughlin - The Province, Tue, Feb 6th, 2007
"Vancouver Island's Smith has a fine expressive voice, can write solid, accessible material and has surrounded herself with great players from Miles Black and Phil Dwyer to producer/guitarist Pat Coleman. Radio will go nuts trying to categorize her but this is good stuff. B"
John P. McLaughlin - The Province, Tue, Feb 6th, 2007
"If Nanaimo was the American south and it was summer instead of the middle of winter, you'd expect to hear music like that found on Andrea Smith's album Sweet Embrace floating out of bars and clubs as you walked by.
That's the image that this album evoked for me, a return to the height of summer, where you can smell the flowers on the humid night air as you watch the sky to find the constellations ovehead.
It's comforting and intimate, and feels like Smith is about to share something personal with you.
And she does. Smith wrote all 12 songs, from the opening and title track Sweet Embrace, waiting for her lover to return and make things alright, to Monashee Breeze, which likely throws back to Smith's previous life wortking in the B.C. Interior. Weary talks of heartbreak, while on Earl she promises to be his girl.
From one track to another, Smith swings from primarily jazz, to blues to folk and back, lending a refreshing note of variety to the album.
The album was recorded at Rick Salt's studio in Nanaimo wiht the help of producer Pat Coleman. Guest artists include Tina Jones and Phil Dwyer"
Melissa Fryer - Nanaimo News Bulletin, Tues, Feb 27, 2007
